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Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that a federal jury today found Jeremy Achey (43, Bethlehem, PA) guilty of conspiracy to distribute and distribution of controlled substance analogues. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years, up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 13, 2018.

Achey was indicted on July 19, 2017.

According to testimony presented at trial, operating under the name “EtiKing,” Achey was one of the largest distributors of synthetic drugs on Alphabay Market, a “darknet” marketplace for illicit substances. Achey mailed thousands of packages containing numerous synthetic drugs to hundreds of customers throughout the country. On February 27, 2017, he sold one gram of tetrahydrofuran fentanyl, a synthetic analogue of fentanyl, which killed a 24-year-old woman in Orlando.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nathan W. Hill.